everybody. This is Stella UFT, and this is heating, Chuck. And today on the subject, we're gonna talk about how to notice your own bias way, like talking about more than just sales and market. We just wanna bullshit and chat about business in life. Hopefully, while we're doing that, provide long value to people the world's best business podcast O E for people trying to get shit done. Yeah, we don't want to give you feedback. That's bullshit. If you want you to do your best on how to ensure that you don't make bad decisions because off rigid internal bias that you might have. So the reason why we wanted to talk about this at a private episode we were just talking about how toe negotiate with oneself. And we shared a little bit about this idea that the one thing that I recently noticed off people wanting to believe something because of self interests and then trying to selectively find the information,

the experts, the articles, the data that confirms their bias and continuously defending their mind against everything that would attack their thought process and collecting the things that confirm that thought process and how big of a waste. To me that seems such a I mean, we always do this, but right now it's such a heightened environment that I just noticed this so much, and I'm just, you know, I'll give you one quick example. Then let's talk about this because noticing one's bias, I feel like is sort of a superpower in avoiding making avoidable mistakes. So one thing that was really interesting at the kind of e don't know, maybe six weeks ago or so 556 weeks ago when we were in the Western world in Europe and the US much earlier in the pandemic timeline and it seems still very far away, like a problem that was in Asia and in China. And maybe they're a few a couple of cases in Germany, a couple of kids in the US,

but there was still a lot of debated who would ever become a problem in the western world. I remember talking to a friend of mine in the U. S. And then I remember talking to a friend of mine in Germany, and what was interesting was how both of them, like my friend in the U. S. Was like, Well, I'm sure I mean, the US I wouldn't wanna be in Germany right now because I was like, Well, why is that? Well, if a pandemic would happen, I'd much rather be in the U.

S. And in Europe or in Germany. And I said, Oh, why is that? It was like, Well, you know, the U. S. Is health care system is really amazing. And it's not as population dense and brought up a number of reasons why it was like, You know what? I feel pretty safe. This is probably around the world. Not the worst place to be in a pandemic in Germany would be much worse.

And then I talked to my German friend, and a couple of days later, and without prompting it, he was telling me what I'm glad that you were in Germany Stelly right now and not in the US, because much safer here. If there's a pandemic, it was like, really it was like, how come? And he was like, Well, you know, the German health care systems. Much of the U. S. Health care system is a catastrophe.

Then the politician and I was like, and that was the moment where I was thinking. Wow, like every were also full of shit and everything. We are trying to convince themselves that their situation and their set up is probably gonna be better than other people's. I'm like, Holy fucking shit. This is so interesting.

No, I don't have a good friend. And she's basically maybe every two or three days, she's like, Should I get out of the city? Children? San Francisco. She's like, you should get out of the city, check out the city of my friends in New York have gotten out of New York. I'm like, Yeah, but that's New York. I'm like, and And then and then she's like, Yeah, maybe maybe a small city.

Of course. You know, there's more stuff here. More hospitals, etcetera. I'm like, Yeah, yeah, sure. Uh, yeah. Okay. Like, I don't I don't know what to say, right? Like,

there's no right answer to her. Like thought right. There's no, like I wanted to tell her. Hey, don't go anywhere. Please, just don't go anywhere. Don't do anything. You know, Just stay where you are, like everything will be okay. Just stay where you are. You know what I mean, it's gonna be OK, Okay,

In the sense of like, it'll be the best to get and and like, it's the same thing. It's like there's a irrationality that comes up when we have uncertain. And when we have that irrationality and that uncertainty, we're just trying to justify our we're trying to justify that we know what to dio. And in a situation like this, the number one thing I can tell you is nobody knows what to do. And if you think you do, you're early bias because the level of clarity for our situation does not exist. There isn't somebody who could tell you today with Ben and has any kind of crystal ball of this. You can say this is what's gonna happen next. And you could even think that. Oh, you know this person. They predicted what was gonna happen or this and that,

but it's like every every prediction can be right. At some point, it's just a matter of like like like what do I mean by that is like it's like even people who, like seemingly, are right. They didn't know anything. They're just guessing, too. So I think I think it's like you're making it up as you go. And the level of comfort we have as humans on making things up as we go is very low. And so you know, this whole thing about Germany or America, whatever. Like, uh, you know,

wherever you are, there are people that are okay, that really and there are people that are not. And in some places there's more people. They're not okay than they are. Like, you know, if you ask me right now, I'm kind of worried about Florida to be often, you know, like the pictures. I see the things I see that being said, I don't know if it matters, right? Like I don't I don't know if, like that's rational or not.

All I know is that there's people out and about, and they might be spreading this thing to each other is a factual. Yeah. Do I need to have a fear for my friends in Florida already doing that? Probably. Probably not, because whatever's gonna happen is literally gonna happen. So a lot of this has to do with just the acceptance that we control Nothing. I think this pandemic kind of helps us see that? Yeah.

Sorry. Sorry about the directing. I think, Yeah, I think there's an insane level of discomfort with the thought I don't know. And I'm still figuring it out while I'm trying to figure it out. Or just like, people don't like to be in the I don't know what's gonna happen, or I'm not sure which side to take yet frame of mine. And then they come up with these narratives. The other thing that's been so interesting it's so interesting to see for me is that there are all these people that I know that kind off, uh, in hindsight, are changing the events in their life to fit a narrative that they've been hyper prepared or they saw this coming. Yeah, So I had, like,

I had a friend that, you know, in the beginning of the in January, he took a big loan. He has, like, an e commerce business that's doing quite quite well. And then he took out a big loan to have extra cash. But back then I remember him telling me that you know, he his markets are not high enough and he might want to invest more in having just more stuff in stock. And so he felt he needed some cash cushion. And then now his story is that he knew hard times are coming. He didn't know about the pandemic. He knew an economic downturn might be coming on hard times not becoming. And he's done everything right. Look at him.

He has already some cash in the bank and he's prepared for the doctor. I'm like, That's so interesting, Like, four months ago. You know, you tell me something else. But now he made these little edits in his own mind to fit a different narrative to fit the narrative. I was ahead of the curve and I was prepared, right, E I've told the brothers both of them I love, but they're idiots at times, and my oldest brother is, you know, is some weird into some weird conspiracies at times. And I remember,

I don't know, two years ago, where the discussion he was saying, You know, the population of the world that can't grow forever, and eventually something needs to happen to do population control. And now he's like some degree, convinced that this might be a government thing to do. Population control like all the old people die, right? And I'm like like, this is to me, like thinking about everything that I've ever thought it to me. It's such an obviously childish way of thinking about the world. Like, how can I make myself feel like I'm smart?

Or I was prepared why I saw this coming, as if that is helpful to me, that's not helpful. Little It's like if I was walking around, I don't know what would I and saying, you know, I started a remote company because I saw this coming like what the fuck, right? Or you started? Yes. Now that all why I started it, or even, just like I knew that we have to be location independent. And so I'm so happy that five years ago already did this first of all, like even me thinking of a version of myself saying this I'm like, I wanna punch myself in the face.

I'm like, Shut the fuck up, you asshole! Right? It's a not true at all, and, B, it's not helpful. Like, who is this? Who would I help with? If if I called, my brother would be like you have local stores. I run a remote company. I was so smart, like,

how is this helping anybody? This is just like to me. It's just dumb bragging or trying to convince myself that I'm smarter than I really am, right, that I've done something smart or was prepared or was ahead of other people when in reality I

think I think it's all Yeah, I think it's just a defense mechanism, right? It's a defense mechanism when we have no control. All we're doing is defending ourselves against being wrong, defending ourselves, no, against something. We don't control something. We have no complete lack of control over a pandemic like this. We don't have any control over. There's only like maybe a few things we can do, depending on who we are and what our capabilities are, that might help. But at the end of the day, the world is in a people. There's a tremendous amount of uncertainty, and this is the time when people want to feel even in some resemblance of control and there is none. You're not going to get it. Good luck trying to find

it right now. Good. Good luck trying to find it right now I love that. All right, we'll wrap up this episode on this point as always, if you have. You know what? Maybe maybe this is a weird call to action. But if your family has been, as especially point of frustration or weird lessons learned over the past couple of weeks edit it surely has been mine. Send me an email and hidden H in charge gmail dot com Stelea close dot com Tell us how you've learned new things about your family during this pandemic, or they show you patterns that you now are determined to surpass, improve or change. I find that with most people that I talk to you, the number one source for worry and also the number one source of like, I know just interesting things that are going on that they noticed. It's much more that families,

at this point that it is yet the global markets or politics or an industry or customers, like lots of people, are telling me stories about their family members and what's going on right now. Super, super interesting. All right, this is it from us for this episode, Stay safe and, well,